The Number Three

Seriously, y’all are the best! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your kind and thoughtful comments and messages about this series of posts! I know a lot of you have been reading my blog from the very beginning and I just want you to know how much I appreciate you!

If you missed the first and second posts in the series, you can find them here:

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years already. In some ways, I feel like we’ve lived here forever; in others, I feel like we moved in yesterday. I also realize that I say this every year at this time! (Hey, I’m consistent!)

It’s funny – when I started writing this post, which was at the beginning of August, when it truly was three years almost exactly since we moved in, I had the following theme for this post:

I am going to stop fighting with this house.

What do I mean by that? I mean that I love my house, but there are parts of it that aren’t what I want them to be.

Click on the photo to see my kitchen reno – started three days before guests arrived for the holidays! – on a budget!

Our kitchen cabinets are in bad shape – the paint is peeling off (I didn’t paint them!) and they don’t all close properly. I’d love to have a bigger kitchen, especially when I’m hosting not only the holidays this year, but the whole family coming in at the beginning of next year for my son’s bar mitzvah! Our laundry room, just off the kitchen, backs up to my kids’ rooms and it is LOUD. The washer makes so much noise, I can’t do laundry at night when the kiddos are asleep. There’s more in other rooms, too. It’s like I have a running list.

Nothing terrible. Nothing urgent. Just “wants.” And I have to stop.

Because what’s happened as a result of thinking about how the house could be better is that I feel like the house is never good.

I constantly feel like it’s never finished or organized or straight. And this drives me insane. And I want that to stop.

Now, I said above that this was the theme of this post when I started writing it all those weeks ago. Since then, our bathroom skylight has leaked (again – third time), a window’s sash is rotted out and the whole window has to be replaced, and our garbage disposal broke and had to be replaced.

Again, nothing terrible. But arg.

I’m sticking with the theme of “I’m going to stop fighting with my house” because I will stop focusing on the things that don’t have to be fixed. We have to stop the leak. We have to fix the window sash (before critters or water gets in). We had to replace a very old garbage disposal.

But I’m going to stop making lists of the “wants” of what’s not done in our house. Don’t get me wrong – the list of parts of my house I want to blow up and replace is still there. But I won’t be so fixated on it that I can’t see the beauty of our home that’s there now.

“But wait,” I hear you say. “You have a DIY/home blog. What in the world are you going to write about then?!?”

Lemme explain.

One of my best friends is building a house from scratch right now. She was telling me all about the process and showing me photos – it is so cool. I said to her, “How exciting to be able to build a house exactly the way you want it!”

That struck me.

I’ve always lived in old houses. I’ve never built a house from scratch. But I’ve turned old houses into houses that end up exactly the way I want them. So, it occurred to me, why can’t I do that in this house as it is? Why can’t I live within the parameters and budget of what we have and make this house exactly what I want?

I can.

That’s exactly what this blog is about. It’s what it’s always been about, actually: how to make a house into a home, merging old and new, using what you have in different or new ways, DIYing and decorating to make the house you want. I just needed that “a ha!” moment to realize it and refocus.

Our home is beautiful. I love our home. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

So there you go: the end, the beginning, and the number three. In sum, it means a fresh way of thinking about the blog and about my home. I hope you’ll continue to join me as I continue to make our home beautiful – on a budget, re-using and re-purposing what we have when we can, and making it functional and organized at the same time.

(FYI: The Friday Five will return next week.)

You might also like:

About Karen Cooper

Hi! I'm Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer” - I traded in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY adventures. Join me for DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organizing projects and tips as I transform a 1929 Tudor bungalow into our home. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.

Comments

Good for you. I too have had those same thoughts and ideas but what I realized is that my ever growing project just that I would have my hubby work on during the weekends was taking us both away from our time with our kids…and that really bugged me. Now we stick to a schedule that has more time with the kids then it has projects on it.

Thanks, Laura! I like that – sticking to a schedule that works is the best way to manage it. I have a tendency to try to do everything at once, and that’s not do-able or healthy. P.S. Your home is gorgeous and I love it! 🙂

Karen -I just went back and looked through a lot of your projects ,diy and re-dos. You do an excellent job and your home looks so loved. Relax and continue to love and improve on what you have. I love your phrase -stop fighting with your house! It’s a beauty and you are just the one to continue to help her shine.

Hi Marilyn – thank you for checking out the archives and for your kind words. I can already tell a difference in my mindset now that I take our home as she is. So grateful to have a roof over our heads.

Karen. I love my house, too, even though it’s too big for just me and my dog; is way too cluttered; needs a deep cleaning, etc., etc. There used to be four people living here, but three moved out. I’m not a great housekeeper.
Anyway, I love my house, too. There are so many “wants” for me, but I think I will focus on the needs and, like you, stop driving myself crazy seeing all the imperfections. The biggest one was I needed a new AC unit — desperately! Checked that off the list. Yay! My front porch roof is leaking and needs repairs. Saving money, have a handyman ready. The wooden stairs at the front and back of the house need repairs soon. When I look at it that way, it’s a short list!
In the meantime, I’m looking at my budget to see if I can afford a maid. This house is too much for me to handle.
Sorry if I’ve rambled on too long, but you’ve inspired me! 🙂

Thank you for sharing your story, Kathy! I’m glad that my ramblings inspired you! There’s always a list…we just have to know when we can realistically tackle each item without losing our mind or our budget!

Hi! I’m Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer,” because I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. This blog is all about DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organization. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.

find projects here!

My Daybed in This Old House Magazine!

Disclosure

The DIY Bungalow is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The DIY Bungalow also participates in other affiliate programs.